By Steve UMIDHA
Kenya’s national carrier Kenya Airways has a total debt portfolio of Sh300Billion, according to Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen.
The figures highlighted by the CS Monday night on a local TV show, just show how the country’s flagship airline has continued to struggle and has remained unable to raise a wall of money through a consortium of local banks and government bailouts running into billions of shillings to help it through a protracted period of unprecedented turmoil
Murkomen also underlined the need to have a strategic investor in the long-term prospects if the airline popularly known as KQ of bouncing back to profitability, adding that the idea is to have the said strategic investor by latest September 2024, to breathe financial life into the struggling airline.
“By 2024 we must have a strategic partner, we must also have complete management at KAA,” said Murkomen who faulted project Mawingu for the financial troubles at the airline.
In 2011, Kenya Airways launched, with much fanfare, Project Mawingu (Kiswahili for clouds) — a statement of intent to take on its aviation rivals.
Core to the 10-year strategy was positioning Nairobi as a hub for flights from the East, notably from India and China, to drop off passengers from where the airline and its Sky Alliance partners like KLM and Air France would pick up fares to the rest of Africa and Europe
Meanwhile, KQ last week warned passengers traveling on its flights during the festival holidays to prepare for possible flight disruptions as the carrier struggles to get spare parts for its aircraft, a communique made in a letter from its CEO, Alan Kilavuka.
